SEATTLE — Mayor Bruce Harrell took part in a public forum in Seattle on Thursday night to share his vision for creating a safer Seattle.
The open discussion included community members who registered in advance to attend the event at the downtown library. Shootings that happened in Seattle on Wednesday were top of mind and discussed by many at the meeting.
“I grew up in the Central District. It has changed in other parts of Seattle with the level of access to guns. Too many people have too many guns,” said Harrell.
Harrell said guns were used in 80% of Seattle’s homicides and said officers have gotten more than 1,500 illegal guns off the street, a record amount. The mayor noted a state law that doesn’t allow his office to regulate firearms.
Investigators are working to find the people involved in two separate shootings in Seattle’s Central District neighborhood. A 17-year-old girl was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg. Hours later, a woman was shot and killed. No arrests have been made.
Seattle City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth also addressed the violence in her district.
“It’s going to be all hands on deck; it’s going to be our parents, our schools, our first responders. I’m dedicated to this because whenever a child is hurt at school, I take this really personally,” Hollingsworth said.
Police said a woman was shot and killed on Wednesday near South 24th Avenue and South Main Street at around 8 p.m.
About five hours earlier and a half mile away, there was another shooting. Near Garfield High School, a 17-year-old girl at a bus stop was shot in the leg. Witnesses told police the gunfire came from an SUV driving in the area.
City leaders wanted to know if people felt safe. In a poll from people in the room, a majority said they feel safe or somewhat safe in their homes.
A couple of answers were startling, with 76% of people in attendance saying they or someone they know have been a victim of property crime in the past two years, and 61% of people reported they or someone they knew were victims of violent crime during that same time frame.
The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs says last year in Seattle there were 70 homicides. Last night's shooting in the Central District marks the 12th homicide in the city this year. For some, it is raising concerns about the violence being on pace for a repeat of 2023.